A right wing fantasy has come true. Tens of thousands of people are defrauding the social welfare system and Proinsias De Rossa is the Minister left to clean up the mess.

It has been a week when statistics sent shivers of conflicting emotions down the spines of each party in Leinster House - except, of course, the Progressive Democrats.

Seeing Proinsias in a spot of bother brought its own rhapsody, but only the heads of Michael McDowell and Jim Mitchell could be clearly seen above the parapet. (Jim is to Fine Gael what Michael was to the Progressive Democrats when they were in government a type of camel outside the tent).

The timid reaction of most of the political parties in Leinster House to the official unveiling of widespread social welfare abuse was based partly on the fact that fraud is now so widespread. It reflects a sizeable bulk of voters. With the fate of the last seat in most constituencies lying with a handful of votes, could it be that few are willing to alienate this social group by insisting on truly draconian measures to stamp out fiddling?

Politicians are caught in a bind; they must show true grit in the face of deceit of the taxpayer but must also demonstrate compassion to the disadvantaged and deprived.

But their shy reaction involves more than a reluctance to witch hunt the less well off. The results of the survey on dole fraud released by the Central Statistics Office last week have opened a Pandora's box. Though it may be left to Mr De Rossa to confront the issue alone politically, this is not just his problem.

Confronting fraud means confronting the whole revenue gathering apparatus of the State and, particularly, challenging our punitive taxation system.

High income taxes encourage cheating. At moderate levels of income, people are paying high tax, making it much more attractive to draw the dole and work in the "black economy". For many, it makes pure economic sense to defraud the system.

On the other hand, politicians are aware that the social welfare system is impossible to live within wholly honestly. The levels of are too low to provide an adequate living. People cannot survive in any comfort within these confines without seeking some additional means of support.

And, of course, social welfare is sometimes viewed as a subsidy from bad employers, who pay low wages in the knowledge that their employees will receive extra "pay" from the Exchequer.

SO ultimately, if fraud is to be cut down, the Government must overhaul the tax system, provide adequate social welfare payments and tackle the issue of minimum wages.

That's a menu that most politicians in Leinster House would prefer to pass over.

The whole social welfare system and the Department that administers it, is viewed by politicians as a cumbersome bureaucratic labyrinth. But TDs across the party divide are alarmed at the way in which mass fraud could go undetected for so long while officials protested minimal abuses. After years of insistence by the Department that the abuse was minuscule - though the whole world suspected otherwise - it is now clear that one in 10 people on the dole has a full time job.

A further one in 10 of those surveyed by the Central Statistics Office said they held a part time job. Twenty eight per cent of those on the Live Register were not at their stated addresses.

The survey was conducted by the CSO to explain the gulf between the figures on the Live Register and those from the Labour Force Survey. About 86,000 of those claiming the dole have been telling the LFS that they were not unemployed. Because it is confidential, the survey has allowed fraudsters to be remarkably honest.

Mr De Rossa - who recently boasted that the record level of social welfare spending was an index of social solidarity - has been left with the task of cracking down. His sanctions have been greeted with private scepticism, while Michael McDowell cruelly commented that they "amount to the firm purpose of amendment which is a necessary ingredient of perfect contrition".

THE CSO revelations may inevitably weaken Mr De Rossa's argument at the Cabinet table for extra social welfare funding. After all, Labour's priority facing a general election will be the delivery of tax concessions; it is more worried about its disappearing middle class floating voters than social welfare fraudsters.

And while Fine Gael is officially offering strong support to Mr De Rossa, one of its best known TDs, Jim Mitchell, has declared that the abuses amounted to a greater scandal than that investigated by the Beef Tribunal. He recalled how the former Governor of the Central Bank, Mr Maurice Doyle, had been dumped on from a great height for saying there was massive social welfare fraud.

Fine Gael enjoys a particular closeness with Democratic Left in this coalition, but it must protect itself against any accusation of being soft on fraudsters.

Fianna Fail has decided to shelter in the undergrowth while Mr De Rossa sweats it out in the sun. The party is not going to chase dole charlatans, knowing every second household in Ireland is feeding into the problem, even if it only involves paying a fiver to the window cleaner.

The Progressive Democrats have no hang ups. They do not await the votes of the great unwashed and, while Fianna Fail failed to issue any statement in response to the Government's "crackdown", Michael McDowell denounced it as a lot of meaningless hogwash.

"The Government has admitted that there are now 100,000 people ripping off the social welfare system. Why have they published no targets, no timetables for eliminating these frauds?" he demanded.

So what is the Government to do to really inhibit this fraudulent activity? As little as possible may be the answer. It's always the safest course; particularly only months from a general election.